?"Are you sure these are the people you want to enter the Ancient Ruins with you…? It is a rare opportunity, even if it is you, getting another chance to enter the Ruins wouldn't come very quickly, although you do not have much time left, but if you wish to reconsider your decision, I will make an exception and delay it for 3 more hours."
Octavius spoke with a strange look on his face.
Normally, since the Students were officially given an entire week to figure things out, he never made such exceptions, this time, however…
He felt like he had to do it.
Because…
The 'team' he was seeing in front of him was far from what he thought his grandson would choose.
And he wasn't the only one to think that way, his 'teammates' had similar expressions on their faces.
After all, this team was a giant mess and even the team members could feel it.
A Genius Mage who created his own Magic Circles that are much stronger than the conventional Magic Circles.
A Magic Prodigy who is much scarier than she looks and is also the only pupil of a Mage that once overturned the entire Academy.
A Talented 3rd Circle Mage from the Vesta Family who is hard-working and creative.
Till these three, the team seemed fine, not just fine, it was better than most teams who explored the Ancient Ruins before,
However,
That was only until the next three members of the team were introduced.
The Fourth Member, a Swordswoman. As talented as she was, considering the rivalry between the Magic and Swords Division, a Mage recruiting a Swordswoman into his team to explore the Ancient Ruins together would cause a?big fuzz.
Isabel, as much as Octavius liked the girl, her being here was only a headache for him.
After all, no one, even he, didn't want the Orion Astra situation to repeat, but Vaan's decision seemed to be heading in this direction.
Well, honestly, the fourth member wasn't even the problem, thinking about it, Isabel and Vaan did seem close, so it wasn't very surprising to see Isabel in the 'team'.
The fifth member, however…
Lirael Vesta.
While for others, it may not seem like a big problem since Lirael was technically Vaan's cousin and was from the Vesta Family, her being here only seemed natural, however, for the people who knew the real truth, the fact that Lirael and Vaan were far from having a good relation, this made no sense.
There was no reason to bring Lirael here.
Vaan could have given this spot to anyone else, there were so many options yet he…
Octavius couldn't help but sigh when he glanced at his Grandson. He glanced at Lirael, who stood there, ready to enter the Ruins and then, he just shook his head.
Even this woman, he accepted.
A family member joining the team wasn't a problem, it was even an unspoken rule to give all the spots to the family member despite the personal relations between the students.
Lirael's presence was accepted but…
The last one, the sixth member of the team,
He was the person Octavius least expected to be here.
Declan Dawncrest.
The issue with Isabel was that she belonged to the Sword Division which was the rival of the Magic Division.
The issue with Lirael was that she and Vaan had a bad relationship with each other.
And Declan… this man's presence here was worse than the two of them combined!!
Not only did Declan belong to the Swords Division, but he also had a bad relationship with Vaan, not only him, but his entire family had a bad relationship with Vaan's family! Their rivalry ran through generations!
What was this man doing here as Vaan's 'teammate', the Headmaster had no idea about it.
Honestly, he felt like his head would explode if he saw this team for even a little longer than he was required to.
"Declan, just what are you doing here…?" In the end, Octavius couldn't control himself and gave in to his urge. It was getting too much for the old him.
He wanted answers.
"Don't look at me, it is not like I had a choice."
Declan grumbled.
He was here, he was given the opportunity to enter the Ancient Ruins, however, there was no trace of happiness on his face.
He was practically formed into this situation.
Thinking about what happened, Declan couldn't help but clench his fists in anger.
…
"Lord Declan… an article was released…
It is something you should see…"
Declan's assistant walked towards him and spoke as she passed a few papers to him. Declan frowned, seeing such a look on his assistant's face wasn't a frequent occurrence.
However, the moment his eyes fell on the article he was given, his expression changed.
It was the article about how Vaan was considering him as an option to bring into the Ancient Ruins.
Declan couldn't help but snort when he read that,
"As if that bastard would do that."
"Please read the following Articles reacting to what he said."
The assistant pointed out.
Declan turned the page and the moment he read the headline, a solemn look appeared on his face,
'Is Declan Dawncrest trying to manipulate Vaan Astra Vesta?'
The article wrote about how Declan was overly arrogant while speaking at the Induction and how he was doing it only to intimidate Vaan and manipulate him into giving him a spot.
It wasn't the only article pointing in that direction.
'Declan Dawncrest taking advantage of a new student who just attended the Academy's Induction.
'
'Is this right? Should we let the new students be influenced by just speech?'
'Do we need to spread more awareness? Should a student's speech be verified before he is allowed to speak in front of the entire Academy?'
All these articles were talking about the same thing in one way or another.
During the Induction, Declan pointed at Vaan about being able to enter the Ruins because he wanted to put him on the spot.
He wanted Vaan to choose and later disappoint the students once they were not chosen. He wanted to affect Vaan's public image, but…
Somehow, the bullet was now heading in his direction.
He was the one who had turned into the public enemy for 'manipulating' and 'intimidating' Vaan just to get the Spot for the Ancient Ruins.
"That bastard… he is using their jealousy to fuel the fire…"
Declan couldn't help but curse in frustration.
Normally, articles like these would never be printed, however, with most students thinking they lost 'their' spot because of him, their jealousy forced them to publish such articles.
Whether it was the truth or not it didn't matter, the more such articles were published, the more students would read it and form an opinion.
And once a collective opinion was formed,
It would turn into a fact.
And that is what has happened in this case as well.
Even though he wasn't trying to get any spot for the Ruins… he had now turned into a public enemy.
"As if that bastard would have given the Spots to these losers."
Declan snorted, throwing away the articles that were in his hands.
What the poor fellow didn't know, however, was that this was just the start,
With Seraphina's appearance, Vaan's faction now had a mastermind, someone who was especially good when it came to manipulating people's minds.
3 days later, Declan received an official invitation.
Invitation to join Vaan's team to explore the Ancient Ruins and of course, before he could even read the Invitation, articles about it were already published.
All the students following this topic knew that Declan Dawncrest had received the invitation.
Again, Declan was put in a difficult position.
If he accepted, it would prove that what the Articles wrote about him was the truth and if he rejected, it would mean that he gave in because of the articles, meaning that he couldn't stand the pressure.
And as the heir of the Dawncrest Family, Declan couldn't possibly let some articles affect his decision.
Entering the Ancient Ruins was beneficial, if he was lucky, he could get his hands on something that could give him a huge advantage compared to others. Not going to such a place just because of a few articles would affect his image, not just in the Academy, but even back in the Dawncrest Family and that was something Declan could never let happen.
Declan had no choice but to accept the invitation.
He had no option but to choose the lesser of the two evils.
Fast forward to 3 more days and Declan was here, standing together with the 'team' with which he would be exploring the Ruins and,
"Ah, Senior Declan, I believe this is the first time we are meeting officially, huh? It is a pleasure to meet you."
Vaan spoke as he extended his hand towards Declan.
The two were finally meeting face to face.
